Shoulder-brace



(No Model.)

T. BESSING. SHOULDER BRAGAE.

No. 559,024. Patented Apr. 28,1896.

VVITNESSESI ANDREVI EGHANAM PNUTO-UTHQWASHINGTOMDC.

, knit portion of the sleeve and chest pieces, hereinafter described, is such as to apply the UNITED STATES PATENT DFFICE.

THEODORE BESSING, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SHOULDER-BRACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 559,024, dated April 28, 1896. Application filed Ju1y9, 1895. Serial No. 555,375. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEODORE BESSING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and. useful Shoulder-Brace and Chest-Expander, of which the following is a specification.

An object of my invention is to provide an appliance for holding the person erect and induce full expansion of the chest.

My invention is especially designed for the use of bicycle-riders.

My invention involves a new principle of construction in that I apply an elastic pressure to the front of the arms of the wearer close to and around the shoulder-joint, as distinct from applying the pressure to the clavicular section of the chest, as is the case with former shoulder-braces and chest-expanders.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention applied in two different forms.

Figure 1 is a front view of my improved shoulder-brace and chest-expander in use upon the person. This figure illustrates the front of the several forms shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, with the exception that in the forms shown in Figs. 3 and 4 it is not necessary to employ the shoulder-bands B B, for the action of the elastic in the back upon the reinforced pressure upon the arms in the line indicated in Fig. 1 by the position of the inelastic bands. In this figure portions of the outer thickness of the garment are broken away to expose the under thickness of material. Fig. 2 is a back view of my invention in one form of its application. In this form the shoulder-bands shown in Fig. 1 are used. Fig, 3 is a back view of my invention in another form of application. Fig. 4 is a back view of my invention in yet another form of its application.

The drawings show a shoulder-brace and chest-expander composed of two sleeve and chest pieces A A, adapted to be fastened to each other at their fronts and provided, respectively, with a reinforced knit portion a over the shoulder and around the armhole and with a reinforced knit sleeve a, and an elastic connection connecting the rear of the sleeve and chest pieces and arranged to draw the same toward each other. In practice this elastic connection may be made in various ways.

In Fig. 2 it is made by two elastic straps O 0, one of which is fastened to the upper end of one of the inelastic shoulder-bands l3 and the lower end of the other inelastic shoulderband B, and the other of which elastics is fastened to the upper end of such other shoulder-band B and to the lower end of the first shoulder-band B. The two elastic straps cross each other atthe middle of the back. Buckles cl may be provided for adjusting the tension. The inelastic shoulder straps or bands B B are respectively fastened to the reinforced knitted sleeves or around the line which contacts with the arm just outsidethe shoulderpoint I) of the garment.

In the form shown in Fig. 3 an inelastic-web E, provided in its upper edge with a slit e, is

connected with the shoulder-pieces, and elastic lace Ois applied to draw the edges of the slit together to give the desired tension.

In Fig. 4: an elastic web 0 is arranged to draw the sleeve and chest pieces backward toward each other.

The chest-pieces at the front are shown pro vided, respectively, with buttons 1 and buttonholes 2, so that the front edges of such pieces can be buttoned together.

The purpose of those parts of the sleeve and chest portions which are not shown in the drawings as being reinforced is to afford convenience to the wearer in putting the garment on, and the buttons and buttonholes are provided to fasten the edges of the separate portions together; but so far as the shoulder-brace and chest-expander are concerned the portions thereof which are shown as reinforced might be used alone without the plain portions which are shown uniting them in front.

It is well known that shoulder-braces can be made without any front connections ex.- tending across the breast, and various shoulder-braces without front connections have heretofore been made. I have not therefore considered it necessary to illustrate my invention thus applied.

No claim is made that it is new to reinforce garments; but the portions of the appliance which are shown as being reinforced serve more perfectly, in consequence of such reinforcement, to apply the pressure of the elastic connection to the proper places on the body of the wearer; and my invention is to be distinguished from others in that it is provided with means (such as the shoulder-band B or the reinforced knit portions to and 61.) whereby the force exerted by the elastic is applied to the front of the arms of the wearer close to and around the shoulder-joint as distinct from applying the pressure to the clavicular portion of the chest or to the arms be? tween the shoulder and the elbow.

Each ofthe chest and sleeve pieces A and A comprise, as essential features, the chest portion a, which surrounds the armhole, and the sleeve portion a,which is fastened thereto and fits over the shoulder and around the arm outside of the shoulder.

In practice the wearer puts the shoulderbrace and chest-expander 011 in the same manner as a coat by inserting one arm in one of the sleeves and then the other arm in the other sleeve and then drawing the front portions of the chest-pieces together and buttoning them. The elastic in the back operates upon the reinforced portions and applies the pressure to the arm just outside of the shoulder-joint.

In the drawings, 3'indicates the reinforcing under layers of knit material around the armholes and inside the sleeves.

The arm-engaging portions at each side are arranged just outside the shoulder-point b, so as to contact with the arm just outside the shoulder-joint, and the elastic is arranged to draw such arm-engaging portions backward and toward each other, and these engage the arms and draw them backward, and the pressure is not applied directly to the bony structure of the chest as it is applied in former devices of this character.

Now, having des iribed my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A shoulder-brace comprising the two sleeve and chest pieces; bands secured to each sleeve-piece and arranged to encircle its respective arm just outside the shoulder-joint, and means for drawing the bands backward toward each other, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The shoulder-brace and chest-expander comprising the two sleeve and chest pieces provided respectively with a reinforced knit portion over the shoulder and around the armhole, and with a reinforced knit sleeve;

means for fastening the chest-pieces together at the front, and an elastic connection connecting the sleeve and chest pieces at the back and arranged to draw the reinforced portions backward and toward each other substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The shoulder-brace and chest-expander comprising the two sleeve and chest pieces provided respectively with a reinforced knit portion over the shoulder and around the armhole, and with a reinforced knit sleeve; the two inelastic shoulder-bands respectively fastened to the reinforced knit sleeves over the line which contacts with the arm just outside the shoulder; means for fastening the chest-pieces together at the front; an elastic fastened to theupper end of one of the shoulder-bands and to the lower end of the other shoulder-band and arranged to draw one of the inelastic bands backward; and an elastic fastened to the upper and lower ends of the other of said bands and arranged to draw the other inelastic band backward, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

THEODORE BESSING. \Vitnesses JAMEs R. TowNsENn, PHILIP MARX. 

